Objects - Meteor Showers

	Obects & Observing Tips Meteor Showers
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Just the Facts...

A meteoroid is any object moving through space that is smaller than an asteroid.
A meteor is the flash of light we see in the night sky when a meteoroid - generally a bit of rock or a dust particle - falls through our atmosphere and ignites due to heat from friction
A meteorite is a rock from space - a piece of a meteoroid that did not entirely burn up, but landed on the surface of the earth.
As the Earth revolves around the sun, our orbit takes us through patches of debris left in our way by passing comets. The high concentration of dust particles produces a meteor shower. These are predictable, annual events.
Meteor showers are named for their radiant- the constellation from which they appear to come.

Observing Tips:: In all honesty, we're not a great location for observing meteor showers. For a really good show you need darker sky than Haggart's. Also, they are naked-eye objects so the telescopes are no help. However, at least a few meteors usually go by on any viewing night, and they're always fun to see.

DateRange	Date of Max	Meteor Shower / Radiant	Max. Rate / hr	Parent Comet
January 1-6	Jan. 4	Quadrantids (Draco)	100	?
April 19-24	Apr. 22	Lyrids	10	Thatcher's Comet (1861)
May 1-8	May 5	Eta Aquarids	20	Halley
July 15 - Aug 15	Jul 27-8	Delta Aquarids	30	?
July 25 - Aug 18	Aug 12	Perseids	70	Swift-Tuttle
October 16-26	Oct 21	Orionids	30	Halley
October 20-Nov 30	Nov 8	Taurids	10	Encke
November 15-19	Nov 17	Leonids	10	Tempel-Tuttle
December 7-15	Dec 14	Geminids	60	Phaeton (asteroid)
December ?	Dec 21	Ursids	10	Tuttle

Data sources:
Pasachoff, Jay M. and Alex Filippenko. The Cosmos: Astronomy in the New Millenium, 2004.
Dickinson, Terence. Nightwatch, 1983.
Moore, Patrick. The Observer's Year, 1998.